Blue White Illustrated

P enn State picked a good time to hire one of college football's best re- cruiters. Don't get me wrong, James Franklin and his sta5 have proven they know how to coach, too. While some have faulted the coaches for recent losses to Ohio State and Michigan State, it's important to remember that the Nittany Lions are still within reach of back- to-back 10-win sea- sons. That has only happened twice since Penn State joined the Big Ten, and it's hap- pening just a few years a7er the NCAA levied some of the toughest sanctions it had ever handed down against any school. There aren't many coaches who could have pulled that o5 given the cir- cumstances. More than anything else, the team's on-4eld success speaks to what this sta5 has been able to do on the recruiting trail in recent years. Just look at their 4rst few weeks on the job. In January 2014, Franklin and his assistants not only held onto the commitments of Marcus Allen, Mike Gesicki and current NFL wide re- ceiver Chris Godwin, they added Trace McSorley, Grant Haley, Amani Oruwariye, Christian Campbell and Torrence Brown in a two-week span be- fore signing day. Think about where this team would be right now without those players. From there, things only improved, with both the 2015 and '16 classes rank- ing in the top 25. It only got better once the staff was able to work out the kinks on the field, as Penn State's most recent class finished 12th overall. Now, the up- coming class is ranked second in the nation. As long as there are no surprises in the coming weeks, the staff is basi- cally guaranteed its first top-10 re- cruiting class, possibly even top-five if the coaches can add the likes of five- star defensive end Micah Parsons and four-star defensive tackle Tyreke Smith. One of the biggest reasons for Penn State's success has been its ability to adapt to the new recruiting climate in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Since the 2014 season, Penn State has made it a priority to wrap up commitments early. Quarterback Sean Cli5ord, for example, committed a full year before he was able to sign his letter. Many have committed in the spring or summer leading up to their senior season. It's been a theme since this sta5 took over, and it's paid o5. Sure, there have also been a few de- commitements along the way, but the coaches knew that if they could have two-thirds of the class wrapped up by September, they would be ahead of most of their regional rivals when it came to getting a head start on the following year. The entire process was sped up even more this year, as the NCAA in May ap- proved an early singing period. Many schools looked at that move as a posi- tive long-term development, but they also expected that their recruiting ef- forts would be a bit more rushed and hectic in the short term. By contrast, Penn State found itself in a perfect posi- tion to not only embrace the accelerated schedule, but also to take full advantage of another major change that's set to take place next summer. "I think what did happen in college football this year is [that the early sign- ing period] forced a lot of kids to make decisions earlier," wide receivers coach Josh Gattis said. "I think that was a trend across college football, kids com- mitting throughout the summer, know- ing that they were going to get involved with their regular seasons at their high schools and they would end up signing early. That's one of the things that we've seen in a lot of the kids who we're re- cruiting. It just sped up the process. "Now, next year, it's going to be a dif- ferent change because o6cial visits are going to start happening in the spring. So I think we're getting into a new era of college football recruiting. It's some- thing that everybody is trying to under- stand as we go through it the 4rst time around." Gattis and the rest of the staff may still be wondering how they'll approach next year's changes to the official visit schedule, as the NCAA is set to allow prospects to take visits from April through June of their junior year. But you can find a lot of other programs that wish they were in Penn State's po- sition. Of the players who appear on our Hot List – a list made up of prospects who we believe are seriously considering Penn State – the sta5 has been able to host all but eight for at least one uno6- cial visit. The majority of the players on that list have already taken multiple vis- its to University Park during the past year. Unlike most of their regional competi- tors, Franklin and his assistants have put themselves in an excellent position for 2019 and beyond. If anything, they're on pace to do what they're going to have to do in 2018 – turn down elite, blue-chip prospects. "We're excited for an early signing pe- riod," Gattis said. "Obviously, we wish we had more scholarships. … We wish we could take everybody, but unfortu- nately we can't, and with the recent suc- cess that we continue to have, we've got a lot of people excited about Penn State football." ■ Nittany Lions unfazed by NCAA's recruiting changes GATTIS

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